Treemap in Power BI

Power BI has transformed how businesses and individuals visualize and interact with data. Power BI offers multiple ways to visualize data, and one such efficient option is the Treemap, which presents large datasets in a compact, intuitive format. A Treemap shows data using big and small rectangles, helping you easily see and compare different categories. In this blog, you will explore Treemaps in Power BI in detail using a sample dataset of streaming platforms

Table of Contents:

• What is a Treemap in Power BI?
• Advantages of Treemap in Power BI
• When to Use Treemap in Power BI?
• Creating a Treemap in Power BI
• Alternatives to Treemap in Power BI
• Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Treemaps in Power BI
• Best Practices for Designing Effective Treemaps in Power BI
• Conclusion

What is a Treemap in Power BI?

A treemap in Power BI is a visual representation of data with the help of nested rectangles of different colours. Each category is represented as a tile that contains its numeric value. Subcategories can be nested within parent tiles, which helps users to get better insights.

Advantages of Treemap in Power BI

• Treemaps use space efficiently by displaying multiple data points within a compact visual area.
• A treemap is used to compare values across different categories by using tile size for comparison.
• Treemap provides hierarchical navigation that helps users to fetch information in a more detailed manner.
• Treemaps allow users to interact with the data through drill-downs, where they can explore deeper levels of data, and by using tooltips to view additional information.
• Treemap uses color saturation to highlight variations across another measure, such as performance or growth.

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When to Use Treemap in Power BI?

Treemaps excel in situations where you want to show proportions in a hierarchy.

They are mainly used in cases where:

• You have numerous categories with differing and significant sizes.
• You want to compare grouped data.
• You’re reviewing multiple dimension performance (e.g., platform → genre → views).

Examples of use cases:

• Streaming platforms are analyzing views by genre.
• Retail companies are reviewing sales across categories and sub-categories.
• Marketing teams review reach by channel on campaigns.

Creating a Treemap in Power BI

Let’s understand the process of creating a treemap with the help of a dataset.

Step 1: Load the Dataset into Power BI

Go to the Home tab, then select ‘Get Data’ > ‘Text/CSV’ to load your dataset

After following the steps, your data will be loaded into Power BI and will appear in the Fields pane, ready for use in visualization.

This is how your dataset looks after being loaded into Power BI.

Step 2: Insert a Treemap

Click the Treemap from the Visualization pane.

This is the visualization pane in which all graphs are present.

Step 3: Drag the fields

Drag ‘Platform’ to the Group section and ‘Views’ to the Values section.

Result:

Explanation: This graph represents the Sum of Views according to the platforms.

Alternatives to Treemap in Power BI

1. Bar Chart

• When to use: You want to compare things side by side, such as which show had the most views.

• Why it’s good: It’s easy to read, clearly shows the values, and works without problems even if you have lots of categories.

2. Donut Chart

• When to use: You want to show how each part comprises a whole.

• Why it’s good: It’s simple, and it’s pleasing to look at when you only have a few things to compare (like Netflix versus Prime share).

3. Matrix

• When to use: If you want to visualize all your data at once, like a spreadsheet.

• Why it’s good: This type of visualization provides detail and allows you to visualize different numbers simultaneously.

4. Pie Chart:

• When to use it: You have only a few things to compare and want to show a whole split up.

• Why it’s good: Simple and well-known, but only works well with a few things.

5. Column Chart:

• When to use it: You want to show how things are changing over time or make some group comparisons.

• Why it’s good: It’s a bar chart on its side and good for spotting trends.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Treemaps in Power BI

• Too many categories in a Treemap can make it hard to read. To improve readability, reduce the number of categories displayed, or group similar categories together. You can also use slicers or filters to limit the data shown in the Treemap.
• Using random or inconsistent colors in a Treemap can confuse users. It’s crucial to use color meaningfully to represent specific measures, such as performance, and to ensure color consistency throughout the visualization.
• Not turning on drill-down limits the ability to explore the data.
• Make sure the labels clearly describe the data represented by the tiles.
• Avoid using Treemaps for flat data structures, as they are designed to represent hierarchical relationships.

Best Practices for Designing Effective Treemaps in Power BI

• Reduce categories to eliminate data chaos and ease readability.
• Use colors wisely and consistently to convey grouping in your data.
• Make sure your labels are readable. Avoid having font sizes too small in the tiles.
• Use tooltips and drill down to encourage interaction and further data consideration.

Conclusion

Power BI treemaps are an effective and compact method for visualizing hierarchical data and proving proportionality and comparisons across two or more categorical variables. Treemaps use size and color to effectively highlight patterns and trends. They are a great solution for visualizing data with a nested category and differing sizes, such as streaming views by platform and genre. By following best practices, treemaps can take complex datasets and turn them into insights. Treemaps can add value by improving decision-making and storytelling in dashboards.

To learn more about Power BI and its functions, check out this Power BI Course and also explore Power BI Interview Questions prepared by industry experts.

Treemap in Power BI- FAQs